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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5979 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-10-27
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 360 minutes

DVD Description
“Funny, quirky and very well written, with some excellent comic performances” - The Daily Telegraph

Martin has two best friends, Patrick and Carl, who couldn’t be more different. One is an irresponsible, unreliable, feckless womaniser and the other is dead. Guess which one slept with his wife?

Martin Grantham is happily married to Jen. They have a son Dan, a nice house, the works. One day his best friend Carl throws himself under a train, setting off a disastrous sequence of events that will change Martin’s life forever…

Into this mess steps Patrick, a friend from way back. Patrick is everything Martin is not – glib, self-confident, popular and pathologically immature. He’s the last person Martin needs in his life right now. Or is he?

It’s not a matter of life and death; it’s much funnier than that. Extras:
'Underneath the Skin of Mutual Friends' (Behind The Scenes featurette)
STARRING: Marc Warren, Alexander Armstrong, Keeley Hawes, Sarah Alexander, Claire Rushbrook, Naomi Bentley, Rhashan Stone, Lee Ross and Emily Joyce.
WRITTEN BY: Richard Pinto, Anil Gupta and Steve Thompson.
PRODUCED BY: Rob Bullock.
DIRECTED BY: Catherine Morshead and Jim O’Hanlon.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Redhead

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Customer Reviews

Really enjoyable, really well done
This series did not have any big gimmicks or weird or quirky set-ups, and isn't (thank God) "edgy" in any sense, but it delivered excellent acting, a funny and resonant script, convincing production, and characters that were a joy to watch. I think there should have been more of a fanfare about it when it was on, because every week it was on I really looked forward to seeing the next episode and was sorry when it finished. All the characters were credible and entertaining, and the humour was never unkind or unpleasant. As each scenario unfolds and the plot develops, there are some very funny moments, and some touching ones, but it never exceeds the bounds of credibility, so you stay involved right through to the end. The story is based on the relationships between four main couples, and opens with the revelation, after his funeral, that one of the men was having an affair with one of his friends' wives (Keeley Hawes). This initiates the descent into chaos and apparent failure of the personal and professional life of the main character (Marc Warren), who is attempting to behave like a grown-up. This is in parallel with the continuing chaos and failure of another character's life (Alexander Armstrong) who refuses to grow up at all. The interplay between the two main characters is brilliant as they wind each other up and get in each others' way, but the interplay between all the other characters is just as good, and their comic timing is impeccable. These are Top British TV people, and it was great to see them performing together as characters you could laugh at and the same time as identifying with them and their crises and dilemmas. Very engaging, and very satisfying.

Five star entertainment with real pathos
Mutual friends brings together a really wonderful crop of the best of British acting talent. Keeley Hawes, Alexander Armstrong and Mark Warren lead a superb cast and are more than ably supported by Claire Rushbrook, Sarah Alexander, Naomi Bentley, Emily Joyce, Lee Ross and Rhashan Stone.

What makes this series both funny and full of pathos is the way the characters react and inter-react with each other as real-life suddenly takes on ever increasing degrees of trauma, crises and reconciliation in a very believable and visceral way after an unexpected death among friends and its impact.

There are some funny clichés even in modern-day, 21st century England - like mild sexism and chauvinism but this is equally balanced out by the matriarchal and firm approach of the female lead characters.

It is an interesting study into male-female modern day relationships, and also equally as much about male-to-male and female-to female bonding and friendship, where we can see just how fragile and fickle human nature can be, but with a great sense of finely tuned humour.

A great cast and great fun, yes, even for the alpha hetero males!